The effect of microwave irradiation's power on in-situ polymerization of carbon nanotube/polystyrene nanocomposite and investigating the electrical conductivity

Carbon nanotube/polystyrene nanocomposites were synthesized via microwave-assisted in-situ polymerization. Since carbon nanotubes can absorb microwave irradiation, they can form hot spots in the mixture, and the auto thermal polymerization of styrene monomers can be initiated from their surface without using any chemical initiator. In order to investigate the effectiveness of the microwave irradiation on the polymerization process, carbon nanotube/polystyrene nanocomposites were synthesized via heating. Samples were characterized by TEM, FESEM, FT-IR, TGA and Raman spectra, and the electrical conductivity of samples were also measured. The results showed that using microwave irradiation can result in forming a polymeric layer on carbon nanotubes, and the resultant nanocomposite had a few agglomerations. In addition, by increasing the power of microwave irradiation, the thickness of the polymeric layer increased and electrical conductivity decreased.